


in every universe

by mildlydiscouraging



Series: in every universe [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Celebrity, Bank Robbery, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Meetings, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Meet-Cute, Meeting the Parents, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-03
Updated: 2015-09-16
Packaged: 2018-04-07 17:31:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4271898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mildlydiscouraging/pseuds/mildlydiscouraging
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>prompt fics from <a href="http://moonfullofstars.tumblr.com/post/123136681838/send">this</a> tumblr post, title from "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnO2AJiMUZ0">my shadow</a>" by keane because i couldn't come up with anything better, sorry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **11**. partners in crime au

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _[Anonymous asked](http://wetbread.co.vu/post/123146701943/): 11 with phan?_

Halfway through the stack of bills, Dan’s earpiece crackles.

“Uh, Dan?”

He keeps stacking up the money in the duffle bag. “What did you do?”

“Nothing!” Phil sounds defensive, but still evasive.

Dan packs in a few more stacks before Phil continues.

“Okay, so I was talking to one of the hostages-”

He gets cut off by Dan’s disappointed groan.

“You know you’re not supposed to do that!” He says, zipping the bag shut and slinging it over one shoulder.

“I know, I know,” Phil sighs in his earpiece as Dan grabs his gun and the other bag, backing out of the vault, “but there was this really pregnant lady and she looked really uncomfortable and I just wanted to make sure she was okay…”

The two guards Dan had tied up on the way in were still locked in the breakroom as he made his way to the lobby. “This is why I’m in charge of hostages.”

“But you always end up shooting one of them!” Phil protests, “That’s illegal.”

Dan stops in the middle of the hallway, sighing and covering his face. “Phil. We are robbing a bank.”

He walks around the corner just in time to see Phil roll his eyes as he says, “Yeah, but that’s  _different_.”

“It isn’t really.” Phil turns around when he hears the footsteps echoing on the marble. He follows when Dan waves him over to the front door, blue button up stark against the pristine white lobby.

“What’s your problem with wearing black anyway?” Dan hands him the other bag, eyes trained on the cowering group opposite them.

“It’s too suspicious,” he says, hoisting the bag onto the nearest counter and unzipping it, “and no one can pull off all black like you do.”

“Aww,” Dan leans in to quickly peck him on the cheek, “thanks, babe. I got all of it, ready to go?”

“I’m still worried for Erin,” he says, but he pulls on the duffle and picks up his gun from the counter.

Dan shakes his head fondly and says, “The sooner we get out of here, the sooner she can go home.”

The sirens outside double in intensity as another police car pulls up outside. One of the hostages whimpers in the background as Dan turns to survey the room again.

“Ready?” He reaches out his right hand for Phil’s, the one that isn’t holding the gun.

Phil squeezes back once and says, “If you’re there, of course.”

Dan kicks open the glass door. “Then let’s do this.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woo short things, hooray!!!


	2. 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **24**. literally bumping into each other au

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _[duplighoul asked](http://wetbread.co.vu/post/123236358438/): 24 phan where dan is Literally one of those ppl phil talks abt in his vlogs and phil ends up with his number later somehow (??) (he's very confused by this too bc what. *what.*) (bonus points if phil loses dans number without realizing and dan bumping into him Literally a few days later and bein like "m8 y wont u text me :////" but bein lowkey emo abt it)_

“Excuse m- oh  _shit_ , sorry.”

Phil runs into people a lot, true, but someone running up the down escalator is a new one. He was headed down to the tube when he was run into by someone going the opposite direction, trying to bolt up the stairs before getting sucked back down again.

“Sorry, yeah, that’s my fault,” the person continues, “but I guess that’s what I get for trying to cheat the system.”

“What?” Phil’s hands go out automatically to grab the person’s elbows when more people get onto the escalator behind them and they run out of space on the small step. 

He looks up to see the man who ran into him is taller than he would have guess, taller than even him, and is wearing a fancy looking leather jacket. They’re standing nose to nose and Phil dimly notices he has really pretty eyes. Actually, on second thought, he had a really pretty everything, and now Phil was probably staring.

“I was trying to cheat the system and get to the top faster by running up the empty down escalator,” Phil barely registers what the man is saying, “but then you showed up and now I’m stuck riding down in shame. All that exertion for nothing.”

“Why would that be faster?” Phil asks, still holding onto the stranger’s elbows. He figures it’s okay as long as the man has his hands resting on Phil’s chest.

“I don’t know,” he shakes his head, almost knocking his head into Phil’s, “but it brought me to you, so it can’t be all that bad.”

Phil feels his own eyes get wide but before he can stammer out anything the man continues, “Yikes, sorry, that was terrible, I’m just gonna…”

They were almost at the bottom of the escalator and as soon as he feasibly can, the man jumps the last two steps and runs back around to the up escalator.

“Goodbye cute guy!” He passes Phil on his way running up the opposite escalator. “Fuck, I did it again, I’m sorry.”

Phil never even got his name.

<+><+><+>

It’s a bit hard to forget the pretty guy that literally ran into him, but Phil manages after a couple days. It doesn’t even occur to him to think of how soft his hair looked or how warm his hands were the next time Phil gets on the train.

Until he runs into him again.

It’s Phil’s fault this time. He wasn’t quite aware of his surroundings as he got in the carriage, instead looking down to make sure he didn’t step on anyone’s feet. Of course, in trying to avoid one kind of collision, he ends up with another.

“Ow, watch it! Oh, it’s you again.”

Once the stars behind his eyes dissipate, Phil sees he’s walked right into the same man, wearing a different leather jacket but just as pretty as before.

“We’ve got to stop running into each other like this,” Phil says. He’s just as unprepared the second time, but he wants to make sure he actually says something before they lose each other again.

The man smiles and just when Phil thought he couldn’t get any prettier, it turns out he has a dimple and it’s absolutely gorgeous. Phil can’t help but smile back and they stand like that for a few moments before the door beeps and the man realizes he’s standing in the way.

“Literally,” he says, backing out of the carriage. “Hey, text me, alright? I’m starting to feel a little embarrassed.”

“I don’t have your number,” Phil sticks his hand in the door as it starts to close, causing it to beep angrily at him again.

“Yeah, you do,” the man keeps walking backwards into the crowded terminal, smirking slightly, “It’s in your pocket, has been all week.”

“When did you…?”

The crowd becomes too thick to see him as Phil digs through the receipts and candy wrappers in his jacket pocket. Luckily it’s the same one as he was wearing before and he finds an unfamiliar piece of paper, unfolding it to see a string of numbers scribbled on one side with some writing beneath it.

> _this is probably really awkward but i saw you on the sidewalk earlier and i really wanted to talk to you.  
>  sorry, dan_

He pulls out his phone and starts typing before the train even pulls out of the station.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there are some parts of this im still :/ about but i really like it tbh. and this is _way_ longer than i thought this was when i was writing it, haha, oops.


	3. 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **12**. writer and editor au

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _[Anonymous asked](http://wetbread.co.vu/post/123261255748/): 12 where dan writes really beautiful poetry and phil is like an underling who gets all the unsigned writers' stuff pushed on him and they've never met but phil's pretty sure he's in love with whoever d.j.h. is_

Phil hasn't even be able to drink his own coffee yet, too busy running around the office delivering them for others, and he's nowhere near awake enough to process why there's a giant stack of papers on his pathetically small desk.

"Ah, Phil," his manager PJ walks over to his little corner, "glad to see you made it in on time. I've got this pile of hopefuls for you to look through, just to see if any of them are worth the time to look over in detail. Think you can handle it?"

He kind of needs this internship desperately, so he nods and goes along with it, despite not quite knowing what "it" is. PJ leaves after clapping him on the shoulder and saying something about counting on him, and Phil is left with a pile of paper higher than most books he reads.

It's easy to slog through the first couple of manuscripts; sci-fi scripts bursting with stereotypes and cliches, romance novels that would undoubtedly end up in the bedside drawers of lonely housewives, one children's book that's actually funny, and it's way past lunch before he gets to anything of substance.

At the very bottom of the pile, buried under the pile of typos and tropes, is a thin little thing. It's the only one that's an actual book, unlike the other double-spaced, sans serif printouts, and it's very obviously handmade as the first page almost falls out when Phil opens it.

The first page just says "volume zero, d.j.h." in spidery handwriting, intriguing enough that Phil puts it down to eat his lunch before he inevitably gets sucked into whatever this is.

When he finishes his sandwich and brushes the remaining crumbs into one of the drawers of his desk, he pulls back out the book and starts at the beginning.

It's a book of poems, he finds, and he's never been that big of a fan of poetry, but something about this feels different. Every page leads to the next without really being connected, like there's something tugging him forward with every blank space.

It's easy to get lost, he finds. It's hard to care about how lost he already is.

<+><+><+>

> _(maybe its the sleep deprivation talking but i think i’m in love with you)_
> 
> 1.  
>  frozen fingers, empty sheets  
>  too melodramatic for even my dreams  
>  my hand goes numb unless its wrapped in yours  
>  my body heat
> 
> 2.  
>  i havent closed my eyes since you left my arms  
>  it makes it hard to sleep  
>  so the last week has been a blur of shadows into sun  
>  i feel like im drowning deep
> 
> 3.  
>  if i blink i know i’ll miss it  
>  so i’ll think twice before i think of you  
>  from this moment forward  
>  i cant ever move again
> 
> d.j.h.

"How's the pile going, Phil?"

He slams the book shut when he hears footsteps approaching. Looking up, he sees PJ standing at the opposite side of his desk. He also sees that the windows are dark and much more time must have passed then he noticed.

"Good," Phil casually slides the book under the desk and into his lap, "I'm just about finished."

"Any of it good?"

Phil shrugs, freeing one hand from the book to gesture uselessly at the pile in front of him.

PJ nods as though he was expecting that answer. "What about that book you've been so engrossed by for the past few hours?"

Sheepishly, Phil puts the thin volume back on his desk. He must have been less subtle than he had hoped.

"It's really good," he says, leaving one finger in the pages to mark his place, "It's a book of poems by someone called D.J.H.?"

"We've gotten some of his work before," PJ nods, "but I've just never had the time to read any of it, I'm just too busy. Do you like poetry then?"

"No," Phil says, "but this is just different somehow."

PJ has a knowing look on his face when he starts walking backwards towards his office.

"Well, it's about time for you to go home," he says, "how about you take that home with you?"

Phil already has it in his bag by the time PJ finishes talking.

<+><+><+>

"You were right, it's good."

PJ tosses the book on his desk. Over the past few days Phil had read and reread every poem in the book before reluctantly handing it back over to PJ. As much as he knew this D.J.H. deserved to be published and all, a part of him wanted to keep those poems to himself.

"We should talk to the author," he continues as he flips through the manila folder in his other hand, "wanna meet him for coffee this afternoon?"

"What, me?" PJ nods. "But I don't know anything about actual publishing or contracts or anything like that; I'm barely an editor as is."

"Just talk to him," PJ hands him a slip of paper with the address of the coffee shop down the road from their office, "Get a feel for him, see if he actually wants to work with us. I can sort out any legalese later if he's worth it."

That's how Phil finds himself sitting anxiously in the corner of the busy shop two hours later, one hand anxiously on the book of poems and the other wrapped around the smallest coffee he could get. His legs is bouncing nervously under the table and any more caffeine would probably break him, although he really wishes he had something to distract him.

He can't help it when he opens the book and starts reading again. He's bored and there are still a few poems he hasn't memorized yet.

Five pages in, he's interrupted by a polite cough from above him. Looking up, he's drawn immediately to the eyes of the man standing at the end of his table. There's something turbulent and arresting about them, more beautiful than a shade of brown had any right to be.

Only when the man coughs again does Phil realize he's been staring and hastily stutters out an apology.

"No problem," the man says as he takes the seat across from Phil, "I assume you're the person I'm supposed to meet?"

"Oh," Phil waves the book around a little, "you're D.J.H.?"

The man ducks his head as he laughs awkwardly and brushes the hair out of his eyes. He's wearing all black, but for some reason it isn't as boring as monochrome should be. His hair is just a little too messy, fingers just a little too long, the bags under his eyes just a little too dark. He should be nothing more than the classic brooding artist type, but that glow in his eyes is hard to shake and Phil can't help but be intrigued.

"Please, it's just Dan," he says, fiddling with the packets of sugar Phil had left scattered around the table from the last time he tried to distract himself.

"Dan," Phil repeats, "well, I'm Phil, and you're beautiful."

Dan head shoots up at that and he stares at Phil until he realizes what he said.

"Your  _poems_ are beautiful," Phil corrects himself, "I mean, that's what I meant, you are too but, I mean-"

Dan laughs again, more genuine this time, and Phil feels like maybe he didn't completely mess it up yet.

<+><+><+>

It comes up again on their third date, Chinese food on Dan's couch and whatever movie was on TV that night. It’s the first time Phil’s been to his apartment and he feels like he should be more surprised at the sheer amount of books everywhere.

"One of the things I'm always most reluctant to tell people about is my writing," Dan says around a mouthful of rice, "so I guess it's kind of ironic that that's how you first knew me."

"I'm glad it was," Phil leans back against the couch and smiles when Dan follows him, "I feel like I knew you before I even really did, you know? I feel like  _you_ knew  _me_ , if that makes any sense."

"It does." Dan rests his head on Phil's shoulder and reaches over him to grab the remote, shutting off the TV as he leans in.

<+><+><+>

Three months later, Phil wakes up to the feeling of something tickling his arm.

Still too sleepy to be alarmed, he opens his eyes enough to see Dan bent over him, felt marker in hand as he writes on the back of Phil's arm.

"What are you doing?" His voice is rough from disuse, but Dan just smiles and continues writing. His hair flops into his face in a childish way as the morning sunlight warms his back. There's some kind of music playing in the background, probably one of Dan's secret favorites, almost completely lost in the sound of cars driving below the apartment and Phil's own breathing.

"Writing," Dan replies eventually, drawing one last swoosh before releasing Phil's arm and leaning back against the pillows.

"'There's a tiny pocket of infinity in every time you look at me'," Phil reads as Dan finds his place against him. As he twists his arm around to read everything, he can feel Dan's breath against his neck and his arm crawling it's way across Phil's stomach.

"You're part of it too, you know," Dan whispers into his skin, "I think maybe you always were."

Phil leans over and kisses him, ink-stained arm finding it's way around Dan's shoulders and settling there. It's enough. It's everything. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING but i havent listened to anything other than iron & wine all night and i love this prompt
> 
> (um also all the poetry here is mine from my blog [sleephardwishwell](http://sleephardwishwell.tumblr.com), so if you like it mayb u could check that out?)
> 
> ((this is sappy as hell though, im sorry))


	4. 39

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **39**. long distance relationship au

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _[Anonymous asked](http://wetbread.co.vu/post/123349968943/): d+p with 39 as real as possible_

The first time they Skype, Dan spends four hours getting ready. It’s a weekend, so he has nothing else to do besides this, and the nervousness completely overtakes him. He ends up changing his outfit seven times and taking two showers because he hair just won’t do the thing he wants it to. Apparently he stress-showers now. He’s really stressed.

Half an hour before Phil said he would call him, Dan forces himself to stop fiddling with his hair and debating between the same three shirts over and over again, instead flopping down on his bed and looking for something to do.

He goes on Twitter, but the first thing he sees is something Phil’s tweeted and it just gets him all worked up again, so that’s out. YouTube, nope, Phil’s there too. MySpace, oh, there’s that band Phil recommended he listen to.

He’s starting to get a bit worried about how much Phil has completely infiltrated his life when the little Skype window pops up with a call from “Phil Lester ^_^” and his breathing gets uneven again. As scared as he is, obviously he still presses accept. Phil is about the best thing he has going for him right now and it would be more than a shame to ruin it.

The connection is grainy and stutters every thirty seconds, but it’s Phil on his screen and Phil talking directly to him, so Dan couldn’t care less about how he probably looks to him.

<+><+><+>

“Is today the day I convince you to come visit me?”

Dan groans and almost rolls of his bed. Skyping has become a daily thing for them and ever since around the third time they talked, Phil had at least mentioned the possibility of Dan coming to visit him.

“Look,” his voice is tinny in the headphones Dan dug out from under his bed when he realized it was one in the morning, “all I’m saying is there’s gonna be a couple days in October that my parents are gone and you could come stay with me and I could show you all the best places in the city and we can play video games all day and…”

“Did you already buy me tickets?”

“They’re in the mail.”

<+><+><+>

Meeting in person is a whole new can of worms. Instead of spending his last hours changing clothes every two minutes, Dan is sitting on a train in mostly silence. He had been listening to music on his phone for the first two hours, but he was preserving the last of his battery in case something went terribly wrong.

The station is ridiculously crowded, but Phil is abnormally tall and he’s almost a full head taller than the rest of the people so Dan spots him right away. He must be harder to spot, since Phil doesn’t see him until Dan is right in front of him.

When Phil actually sees him,  _really_ sees him, in the real world, it’s even more than Dan thought it would be. More exciting, more exhilarating, more of any adjective he could think of.

Phil is taller than Dan expected, and his eyes are even weirder and prettier in person, and Dan finds himself throwing his arms around him before either can say anything. Phil hugs him back just as hard, saying something that sounds like it might be a “hello” but is mostly just a laugh. He smells like warmth and boy and all Dan can think of is how much he never wants to let go.

Then Phil steps back and takes Dan’s face in his hands, smiling and rambling about something, and Dan changes his mind.

<+><+><+>

“Is today the day I convince you to come back?”

His laptop is perched on his bed and he knows he’s out of the frame, searching for something under his bed that he was going to show Phil, so Dan allows himself the blinding, nervous smile he’s been trying to hold in ever since he got home. He’s tearing up just a little, embarrassingly happy, and he wipes it away before returning to look at the screen.

“Miss me already?” He asks it flirtatiously, but the nod accompanied by a small, sad smile he gets in return is too real to ignore. Settling back on his bed, Dan pulls the laptop closer and gently touches the image of Phil on it. “I miss you, too.”

Phil’s hand gets blurry and out of focus, like he’s doing the same thing on his own end. “I’m seeing you on Halloween, right?”

“Yeah,” Dan laughs and rolls his eyes, “I can’t wait to stand in a field with a bunch of strangers all day.”

“You’ll always have me.” Phil apparently has a habit of making ordinary things more real than they need to be.

“Always?” Dan repeats, “Promise?”

Phil nods ardently. “Cross my heart, hope to die. We can shake on it later, if you want to.”

“Yeah, alright.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you want real as possible? i’ll give you real as possible. (*chanting* cliche af cliche af cliche af)


	5. 33 (1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **33**. celebrity/fan au

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _[Anonymous asked](http://wetbread.co.vu/post/123601199448/): 33. celebrity/fan au with dan and phil for irony_

_Recent Google searches: how many <3s does it take to fall in love?_

If his phone buzzes with a message from Twitter one more time, Dan is going to throw it off the bed. Quickly followed by himself, probably.

Just as he thinks he’s probably calmed down enough to function like a normal human being, his phone vibrates so hard it falls on the floor by itself.

That takes care of that, he thinks to himself as he leans over to check the screen.

“’@AmazingPhil replied to your tweet!’” Dan reads to himself sarcastically, “Yeah, he better have.”

It’s a drastic change from his first reaction to Phil tweeting him, which had only been a couple days ago, but he’s adapted to the shift from fan to friend with admirable ease. The first time Phil had replied to his tweet, he’d hidden his laptop and phone under his bed and walked around the block to work off the nervous energy. Pacing helped him calm down enough to reply, and eventually he got to the point where he could talk to Phil without having a heart attack, which he counted as progress.

It helped a little that he had started having to field his own questions from “fans” (of Phil, not him), every once in a while popping up on his feed asking if they were dating or something.

A tiny part of him wants to reply, give in to their incessant questions and tell them no, of course they aren’t dating, they’re never even met in person, how would they be dating? He wants to tell them the actual truth, that maybe they are and he just didn’t notice, that he wishes they were but he knows they never will.

Most of them think Dan’s only trying to befriend Phil because he’s kind of famous, which is completely hypocritical since they’re all trying to do the exact same thing themselves. He will admit that that’s how it started out, but now that he’s actually talked to Phil one-on-one it feels like more than that.

He thinks if he met Phil in any other way, they’d end up right here again. Like Dan’s mum always used to tell him, there are some people who just end up in your life that you belong with in whatever way you get. 

That’s what makes him think it’s more than blind hero worship. Something between them just works, all their overlapping interests that fill in the gaps in each other’s lives. It’s worth something, he knows, so he takes every tweet and every text and every message he can. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> #ironic (im writing another one for the same prompt, which is gonna b the other way around, so sorry this is so short i just didnt want it to b too cliche)


	6. 7 + 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> **7**. fake relationship au  
>  **8**. roommates au

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _[Anonymous asked](http://wetbread.co.vu/post/124267677968/): 7 + 8 for phan?_

"Quick, I need you to date me."

Phil looks up from the pile of socks he'd been halfheartedly trying to match. He doesn't even dignify Dan with a response, only raising an eyebrow and waiting for him to explain.

"Let me explain," Dan sits across from him on the sofa and starts pairing up socks as well. As he should; he never helps with laundry and Phil is always stuck doing all of it by himself.

When he doesn't say anything for several minutes, Phil waves a sock in front of his face.

"You were explaining...?" He asks.

"Right, yeah, explanation," Dan sighs and throws the socks he was holding back into the pile.

"Last Christmas my parents were pestering me about being single," he starts, "and they were trying to set me up with their friend's daughter or something, so I panicked and said I was already seeing someone."

Phil nods along, like this was a perfectly reasonable response.

"Of course, it didn't really work, since they only switched to asking who I was seeing," he continues, looking down at the unfolded laundry and fiddling with the closest sock, "and eventually I just told them the first person who came to mind, which was you."

"I'm flattered," Phil says. Dan only laughs a little, which is more than Phil had hoped for.

"You're welcome."

"But that doesn't explain why you came in here demanding that I date you." Phil goes back to folding as Dan flops over against the back of the sofa.

He sighs and says, "They want to come visit this weekend and they already bought train tickets and they're gonna figure out I was lying and tease me about it forever."

"So your plan is for us to pretend we're together for as long as they're here?" Phil asks.

"Will you hate me forever if it was?"

"I'll go move my stuff into your room then."

He gets tackled with a hug for his troubles, which makes it worth it.

<+><+><+>

Dan's parents are perfectly lovely people, if a little overbearing at times. They arrive at the flat after dinner, and once they've exchanged greetings and set up their stuff in the "guest room" (i.e. Phil's room), they retire for the night.

"Do you think we passed the first challenge?" Phil asks as they start their second round of Mario Kart. Dan always plays Mario Kart when he feels stressed.

"I guess," he says as he slides back into the lead with a well-timed banana peel, "but they're still gonna be here another three days."

"We can pull it off," Phil leans from side to side like it will help him get out of seventh place. He knows it won't, but it distracts Dan enough that he slips up and ends the race in third.

He groans in defeat and slumps back against the sofa, his head landing on Phil's shoulder.

"Bedtime?" Dan nods, almost asleep already. He stays awake enough to walk as Phil leads him to "their room" (i.e. Dan's room), falling into bed as soon as he gets in the door. Phil follows soon after, changing into his pyjama pants first before curling up next to Dan and pulling the blanket over the both of them.

"It's been ages since we cuddled," Dan remarks, leaning back as Phil wraps an arm around his waist, "The last time was when your mattress practically exploded and you had to share mine for like a month."

"Ah," Phil says, "sad, broke Phil who couldn't afford to buy a real bed."

"Mhm," Dan hums, "it was easier then, when you were still taller."

Phil pokes him in the side in retaliation, and Dan barely flinches, already most of the way back to sleep. Sighing gently, Phil pulls the blanket closer around them both and falls asleep as well.

<+><+><+>

In the morning, Dan wakes up to find Phil is already gone, and when he listens closer to the ambient noise in the back of his mind, he hears the sound of the coffee maker hissing in the kitchen and conversation drifting out of the lounge. It sounds like Phil is making polite conversation with his parents. He's really nailing the part of doting boyfriend, Dan dreads having to fake break up with him in the future. Maybe he won't have to.

<+><+><+>

Two minutes into breakfast and Dan's mum has already whipped out her phone with its albums of baby pictures. Humiliation is mobile now, it seems, and Phil laughs at every naked bath picture and primary school photo.

There's a distinct difference between Phil's polite laugh and his real one, the one where he starts breathing funny and his tongue pokes out and he automatically raises a hand to cover his face.

Dan knows the difference well, but when his dad says something offhand about maybe showing baby pictures of their own child one day, it's a new laugh entirely. He doesn't quite know what to make of it, but it's gentle and quiet and Phil looks at his hands on the table as he makes it and it's the most beautiful thing Dan's ever heard.

<+><+><+>

His parents stay for an extra day when the weather gets particularly bad and there's widespread delays as trees are knocked onto train tracks.

They lose power for a bit and end up in the most competitive Scrabble game ever, gathered in a circle on the floor of the lounge. Phil comes close to building them a pillow fort, but Dan convinces him they don't have enough sheets and he concedes.

By the end of the night, Team Dan and Phil is winning three to two and Dan has slumped over onto Phil's shoulder as Phil regales his parents with the tale of that time a mouse started living in their fireplace. Dan's gotten too used to the way his head fits perfectly beneath Phil's head, but he can't bring himself to care as his mum laughs too hard and Phil smiles too wide.

When they go to bed Phil doesn't hesitate when Dan's scoots backwards and opens his arms. His shirt smells like cocoa powder and their laundry detergent when Phil tucks his head under his chin. He remembers something he read once about home being a feeling more than a place and falls asleep smiling softly.

<+><+><+>

They wake up, perfectly normal, and Dan's parents roll their suitcases into the waiting taxi and then they're alone again, standing in the kitchen and waiting for the coffeemaker to hurry up.

Dan is sitting on the counter, feet kicking the cabinets gently as he does something on his phone. His shirt is a little wide at the collar, loose and drapey, and Phil can't help but remember how it had felt under his cheek last night.

"Have you listened to the new One Direction song yet?" Dan asks, still not looking up from his phone.

The coffeemaker beeps and Phil nods as he pushes back the temptation to fix Dan's hair where it's fallen into his eyes. When he's finished pouring too much milk and sugar into his mug, he pushes his glasses up on his nose with the back of his wrist and cradles the mug in both hands.

He turns around and Dan has finally looked up from his phone, instead staring at him. The look on his face is the one reserved for sappy anime and accidentally watching old videos of theirs.

"Do you think I could kiss you?" He asks, feet still swinging and phone still in hand.

It's far from hard for Phil to nod and cross the kitchen in one stride so he's standing right in front of Dan's perch on the counter. It's all too easy to let Dan slide his phone across the counter so he has both hands free to cradle Phil's face in, for Phil to set down his coffee and lean on the counter, pushing himself up a little so they're closer to the same height.

They kiss and it tastes like Dan's toothpaste and bitter coffee and Phil's cereal that wasn't really his. Nothing more than a simple press of lips, soft and a little difficult when Dan starts smiling slightly.

It feels like it should be more of a revelation for Phil, but the only thing new is the voice in the back of his head telling him this could've been happening the whole time, idiot.

Eventually Dan's hands slide down to fist in the collar of the sweater Phil is wearing, probably the only one in the apartment that doesn't actually belong to him. Phil has to pull back before it gets any farther, something about kitchen messes flitting through his head, and Dan smiles as he steals Phil's glasses and lets him comb inquisitive fingers through his curly hair.

He decides telling his parents he was dating his flatmate was one of his better plans as he lets Phil drag him down the hallway. Probably his best, if he does say so himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yEAHHHH BUD all abt that fake dating lyf


	7. end

this isn't an actually chapter, so sorry if that's what you were expecting! think of this as an extended author's note.

this isn't a cancelled or abandoned fic or anything like that, but this particular work won't be updated anymore. instead, i'm posting all these as separate works! idk, i just feel they work better that way, since none of them are actually connected in any way other than they're from the same set of prompts.

they'll all be put in this series, but here's links to chapters [one](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4813175), [two](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4813298), [three](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4813691), [four](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4813802), [five](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4813871), and [six](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4813988) (the ones originally posted as chapters here).

i've done some edits to them as well, so even if you've already read the versions here, i'd still check them out. so ta-da!!

**Author's Note:**

> who knows how much of this there'll be!! prompt me here or on tumblr if you wanna see any more of these!!
> 
> tumblr @[dweebhowell](http://dweebhowell.tumblr.com)


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